TARGET 101215

BOSSABALL

The Bossaball court

The Bossaball Court

Question: What do you get when you combine a child's bouncy castle, two trampolines, a volleyball net and a soccer ball - and then try to play the game to the beat of bossa nova music?

Answer: Bossaball.

A game in progress

Bossaball in action.

There is no dearth of bizarre sports in this world, new ones are probably being invented everyday. One of the latest additions to the series is Bossaball. Sounds like baseball? Well, it’s nothing like that. Bossaball is in fact, a cross between volleyball, football and Brazilian capoeira (a Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, sports, and music), and it’s played on a trampoline.

Night game

Night game

Bossaball consists of two teams of three to five people, who toss the ball across a net, similar to volleyball. However, the players are all on trampolines. This lets them jump at least 12 ft into the air, allowing them better access to spike the ball. The ball can be touched with any part of the body. You can even double-touch a ball with your hands or your head. Only one player of a team is allowed on the trampoline at once. The others play on the surroungind inflated pad or on the ground.

A game in the city plaza

A game in the city plaza

Bossaball is a sport fast gaining popularity on the beaches of Andalusia. The concept of the game was first developed between 2002 and 2004, by Filip Eyckmans, a Belgian living in Andalusia. It was first introduced in Belgium and then Netherlands, before it was brought to Spain.

You can use any part of your body.

You can use any part of your body to hit the ball, so soccer rules apply, as well as volleyball rules.

The name Bossaball was coined after the kind of music that is played during a match – bossa nova rhythms. Along with Latin American music, samba referees are also included sometimes. These referees use whistles, percussion instruments and DJ decks to take the game up to new levels.

This is an extremely physical game. Safety of the players is a major concern with this sport, as one may simply bounce off the trampoline and on to the ground. To avoid this, large inflatables that are at least 3m wide cover all the springs and bars on the trampoline. This (hopefully)stops players from falling off the court.

Quite a few countries have Bossaball clubs – Spain, Brazlia, Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, to name a few.

It takes less than 45 minutes to set it all up and get ready to play. As a spectacular attraction, bossaball draws the crowds wherever it goes. Therefore, many companies and major stores sponsor the games to be played in front of their establishments. It offers great opportunities for marketing and corporate branding. It attracts attention and often generates a large amount of media coverage including print, internet, radio and television, making it an outstanding publicity device.

The photographs for this target were gathered from the web sites below, and are credited to Pedro Romero.

To learn more about Bossaball, take a look at the following web sites:

Oddity Central
Official Bossaball website
Bossaball Instructions, rules, and information guide
The Who Invented What website